First of all I wanted to thank you all for finally identifying the old keyboard that I used in the mid 80's - a 1391406.

I couldn't for the life of me remember the make or the model number until I discovered this forum. I just recall that it was big, heavy and utilitarian looking but was absolutely terriffic to type on.

You are so lucky in America to be able to source new and used IBM model M and their clones for peanuts.Importing say an International keyboard layout 1391406 would cost at least $50 for kb itself another $40-50 shipping then the really big cost when the customs and excise man slaps another $100+ import duty on it!

This is really Rip Off Britain and I'm sick of it - I went to Monaco in May for the Grand Prix and it was miles cheaper in the South Of France than here for everything.

After scouring the web for weeks I found at least three separate places to buy a keyboard and they are all computer surplus stores.

I ordered one on Friday afternoon on the phone and it came today - Monday - amazing - total price £43.13 delivered.Obviously they are used but in a good refurbished condition.It was £25 for the model M plus £12.50 delivery and 15% V.A.T. If anybody is trying to source a good used model M I recommend R & R DMS Ltd.

I also ordered another new in box 1391406 from a place down south because I wanted a backup board and I have two computers which I don't want to swap keyboards on all the time.

My old keyboard is a BTC - 5123S which was my original keyboard that came with my junk Patriot computer from PC World in 2000.The poor little keyboard has been absolutely hammered - it is filthy, worn bent in the middle and the back riser leg is snapped but it still works after being used every day for over nine years - amazing considering its a rubber dome cheapy that must of cost £3.

I just wanted a proper buckling electro-mechanical for my new pc - A Dell Vostro 200 which I got for a song and I have already done surgery on it because I like everything customised even though I've only had it a week.

Now about this keyboard - It's been cleaned and some of the letters and the spacebar is worn, it is shiny and it came with an original detachable IBM coiled PS/2 cable.

For some reason the label on the back of the 'board is missing so I don't know exactly how old it is but I do know that it was made in Greenock Scotland between '85 - '96.

It is a pleasure to type on especially for me as I am a heavy-handed typer.I wouldn't call myself a typist exactly because I usually just use one or two fingers but I can still type over 30 wpm with one finger.

I think it's about time I learnt to touch type and this wonderfull Human Interface Device - haha - (who coined THAT mad term?) will help me immeasurably.

Now ... several hours later .... I've spent another - quite long period - typing a proper message ... and exactly the same thing has happened!

ie. having finished and elected to preview my posting I've lost it all ... with feeback saying I either have insufficient priviledges or am not logged in.

Anyone have any suggestions? Is there a timeout or something? Or a limit to length ('tho I don't think it was any longer than Roaduck's original posting .. I'm just slow)? I did email the administrator, I think on Monday when it first happened, asking for guidance ... but I've not had a reply.

I've just now previewd this - shorter posting - and everything seems to work fine. Anybody have any suggestions?

I also think the 'remember me' option should help, but whenever I worry about that kind of thing happening I use Ctrl-A Ctrl-C to copy everything into the clipboard. If I'm feeling particularly paranoid I'll paste it into notepad too. Has saved my butt many times.

Thanks very much for the suggestions as to why I've been losing text and what to do about it!

I'm going to try and leave a shorter reply to Roaduck's more recent posting from Oct. !st

It's basically just to "second" his suggestion as to where to get an IBM model M 1391406 in the U.K. Having stumbled upon this website and his posting I checked out his leads and ended up following his suggestion to buy from R and R. I spoke to Andy Kempster - paid £43 and something all in - keyboard arrived next day. I'm very pleased indeed! It's in great condition and cheaper than the 2 I've seen privately advertised in this country on Ebay during the past few months. Andy asked me to leave positive feedback here (he first asked where I'd heard about them) if I was pleased ... because he has another 14 available ... which he says are in the same condition .."refurb." but (apart from a slightly grubby lead) mine is in pretty much as new condition ... and so I do thoroughly recommend them.

[note: text recovered days after Firefox crash and/or geekhack post timeout results in failure to submit this first time around]

I have been wanting a Model M again for a long time now. Finally, after finding this thread, I put an order in with Andy at R&R...and I couldn't be more pleased! I highly recommend ordering from there and may even get another one.

¹ Whilst this is not the 1391406 I ordered, I don't actually know the difference between the two. I had a Model M some years ago which had removable keycaps. This board does not, but it is of no consequence to me personally.

² If using PayPal: Best to telephone Andy to check stock, pay the balance to purchasing@randrplc.com (include your delivery address), and then give Andy a quick follow-up call to confirm payment received. In my case I conducted the entire transaction via email..to then find that the payment went through but that the order wasn't being processed at all. It was an honest mistake which was rectified the instant I picked up the phone. I guess they don't deal with PayPal payments very often and I imagine using traditional PoP protocol (plastic over phone) is best of all

Everything about this board is in good condition. It's pretty clean - outwardly at least - and all of the keys are working. When it arrived, the two plastic panels had come apart slightly by the lower left Ctrl key but they snapped together perfectly with a small press. The PS/2 connector was full of fluff, but again that's a minor gripe. The contacts are 100% and I just had to use a jeweler's screwdriver to clean it. Now, the only bogey is that the right Shift key is not quite as springy as it should be. For someone like me who would sooner type a whole paragraph with the right shift held down than use Caps Lock (which is remapped to Ctrl at this stage anyway), this slightly lazy key is of no consequence. The switch itself works perfectly, it's just the spring has 'gone'.

Model: 1386719 (Lexmark)...Whilst this is not the 1391406 I ordered, I don't actually know the difference between the two. I had a Model M some years ago which had removable keycaps. This board does not,

My 1391406 also has 1386719 printed underneath.It has removable keycaps, but was made in early 92.

¹ Whilst this is not the 1391406 I ordered, I don't actually know the difference between the two. I had a Model M some years ago which had removable keycaps. This board does not, but it is of no consequence to me personally.

IBM had a funny habit of making keyboards with random part numbers. If it has a UK layout, it's just a 1391406 for all intents and purposes.

I assume it also has a pemanently attached cable as opposed to a removable one? Out of curiosity, is the cable straight or coiled? And what is the colour of the border around the lock lights?

just got a refurbished 1391406 from bluegoose - came to £37 + vatlabel on back says 1391406, made in uk, uk layout, manufacture date of 1993-02-08has the detachable cable- and all seems fine with it - very nice.